Szamosszegi Discusses the Asian Century in The International Economy

Andrew Szamosszegi comments on “The Asian Century, Reality or Hype?”  in the Summer 2013 issue of The International Economy.

The symposium of views was instigated by Clyde Prestowitz’s commentary in Foreign Policy: “{W}hen one asks exactly what is meant by Asian GDP or Asian Century, the flaws quickly appear. It is, in fact, nothing more than an agglomeration of numbers. To speak of the Asian Century or the Asian economy is to suggest some degree of unity and commonality among the Asian countries and economies. But this is simply not the case. With China and Japan at close to the point of war over the Senkaku Islands and Japan and South Korea unable to share intelligence information because of disputes over which holds sovereignty over the Takashima Islands and India and China still trying to make peace over disputed territory in the Himalayas, does anyone believe there is unity or commonality among the Asians? This is not to mention the conflicting claims of the Chinese, Taiwanese, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia over the South China Sea.”

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